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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ashtal" data-source="post: 14662" data-attributes="member: 3">Hrmmmm...I am very torn about this ep (and I only saw the second half).I liked the character development and I loved the doctor but I can't get around the choices and decisions made.They've played god on regular occasions, when it suits them.  The Prime Directive generally gets thrown around when they want to make a social comment in the context of the story.To me, the bottom line here was that Enterprise denied humanitarian aid to people who desparately needed it.  Yes, they were given a stop-gap measure, but their reasoning was faulty.  By that rational, every people who can contribute humanitarian aid *shouldn't* because it becomes playing god.  What about the humanitarian aid given to other cultures in our own world?  Just because they are human doesn't count - these aliens are sentient beings.  Human's also make an effort to interfere, both positively and negatively, in the evolution of non-sentient species with regularity.  (Not that I am saying humanity can do whatever the hell it wants and destroy whole species - no, they must be careful and minimize their impact when they can.)  And there was no guarantee that the intelligent species of the planet would remain dominent forevermore.  The secondary species may have evolved and surpassed the first, either demanding peace or through violence.The way they talk about evolution is that there is an overwhelming 'plan' in place, stretching from the beginnings to their endings, as if directed by fate.  And that's not the case.  Evolution is about events that happen - and stuff happens 'cause it happens, not because of some preordained plan.  For example, let's say the subservant species ends up dying due to plague, but the intelligent species still ends up dying out.  Both cultures are lost. Any number of things "might" happen. If we're going to play the what if game...what about the lives and culture that will be lost if these people AREN'T helped?  Who knows what great discovery they may make in the future that can help others?Giving them warp drives? No.  Weapons, aiding in a war, no...but this is humanitarian aid!   Aleviate suffering where you can, without strings attached (like pushing your faith or putting conditions on it), if the people ask for it.  I love the show, but I don't like how Star Trek, in many of it's incarnations, apply the Prime Directive only when it suits them for story episodes.  Ashtal</blockquote>

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